Rewatched Michelangelo Antonioni's RED DESERT (1964) on Blu-ray. Was slightly indifferent the first time I saw this last year, warmed-up to it a second time and this time (my third) I completely fell head-over-sneakers in love with "Red Desert." The cinematography tricks that Carlo Di Palma had to pull to get Antonioni's particular mise-en-scène are splendid in that they're not just for show (even though it looks gorgeous and grainy on a flat screen) but back-up and support one heck of a committed lead performance from Monica Vitti. Whether it's self-inflicted mental illness or she's an alien from another planet (or alienated from her own planet, hence the normal one in a world increasingly full of human 'robots' like her husband, kid and fellow-countrymen) Vitti is actually the reason to absorb "Red Desert's" inner-desolation delights (and a pretty odd supporting performance from Richard Harris). The two short Antonioni documentaries, "GENTE DEL PO" (1947) and "U.N." (1948) (the latter a neat "Bicycle Thieves" neo-realist short with a pretty cool jazzy score), are cherries on top of a great tasting cinematic cake.

MST3K #1006 - BOGGY CREEK II: AND THE LEGEND CONTINUES... (1999/1983) on DVD. The first two thirds of "Boggy Creek II" find Mike and the Bots blowing through every Southern stereotype/joke/cliche/accent in the book trying to make light of the quest of an Arkansas college professor (writer/director/producer/'dictator-for-life' Charles B. Pearce) to find a Big Foot-type monster that's been seen around the Ozark Mountain region. That the Scooby-Doo gang of college students tagging along with the professor don't seem to care at all about the creature they're looking for helps score a few laughs ('It's the Arkansas remake of Wages of Fear,' 'Hey Legend, how's the continuing going?,' etc.) but you can almost sense the Brains' desperation at making fun of boring-but-not-detestable characters. Then Ol' Man Crenshaw (Jimmy Clen, hardly an old man) shows up and the experiment literally comes alive, unleashing from M&TB's a string of some of the best riffing in Season 10 ('I saw the little creature' ) that saves the episode right before it ends. Not a classic or a dud, "Boggy Creek II" is enjoyable but slow-burning middle-of-the-road MST3K goodness.

LAW & ORDER: TRIAL BY JURY - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2005-2006) on DVD for the first time. Three "L&O" shows on the air simultaneously since the early 2000's (mothership, "Special Victims Unit" and "Criminal Intent") achieved the sweet spot of being decent-enough quality procedurals and commercially-viable network TV product. Then Dick Wolf and NBC pushed their luck with a fourth "L&O" procedural, 2005's "Trial by Jury," and got burned with a 13-episodes-and-out ratings loser (followed a year later by "Conviction," another Wolf/NBC NYC-set legal procedural that was created solely to recycle the expensive sets from "Trial by Jury," that also went 13-and-out). The thing is, like the recently-canceled "Los Angeles" spinoff, "Trial by Jury" is not a bad procedural once you adjust to its rhythms and quirks (like having Bebe Neuwirth as the lead ADA... Jack McCoy and Ben Stone she ain't). Acting is decent all-around (Jerry Orbach's final two episodes as Lennie Briscoe before his death kick-start the show) and the writing/directing is on par with the franchise standards (i.e. predictably competent). The Box Set is cheap too. Shame that, due to timing and just being one "L&O" show too many, "Trial by Jury's" lasting legacy will be providing the opening curtain/music for the USA-era episodes of "Criminal Intent."

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Well made, with the clever device of using a child's view of the world to illustrate the absurdity and irrationality of the Holocaust. I have problems with dramatic retellings of anything to do with the Holocaust, simply because however well made and however hard it tries (e.g this film and Schindler's List), drama in some way diminishes the awfulness of the reality, which can only be glimpsed by staying in reality; either in film (e.g Shoah) or in newsreel archive, or in documentaries, or in eye witness accounts. You can read for yourselves the critical reception to this film, which I don't remember receiving a wide release. Putting aside my personal misgivings over the use of drama in this historical context, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas does not match Schindler's List, and it has flaws, but it tells its story well, and deserves to be seen.

Page Eight, David Hare's first directorial effort for 14 years. I don't like some of Bill Nighy's mannerisms which he brings to all his parts, but he is a good actor and the rest of the acting is as classy as you would expect from the likes of Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and others. The acting, the dialogue and the intentionally low key style hold the film together, but they don't completely mask the plot weaknesses. Worth watching if you like intellectual drama. Possibly a series to be made in the future based on the Nighy character.

Just read that a film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is looming. News to make my heart sink. Not only will it be compared with the brilliant (read the reviews) television adaptation thirty years ago (Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Terence Rigby, Michael Jayston and company), but reading the IMDB entry, most of the actors look horribly miscast for their roles. Gary Oldman has the unenviable task of trying to play George Smiley in the shadow of Alec Guinness. It is like asking Jim Carrey to play Columbo and expecting people not to think of Peter Falk.

Polynikes wrote:Just read that a film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is looming. News to make my heart sink. Not only will it be compared with the brilliant (read the reviews) television adaptation thirty years ago (Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Terence Rigby, Michael Jayston and company), but reading the IMDB entry, most of the actors look horribly miscast for their roles. Gary Oldman has the unenviable task of trying to play George Smiley in the shadow of Alec Guinness. It is like asking Jim Carrey to play Columbo and expecting people not to think of Peter Falk.

So you are complaining about something that hasn't opened yet, something you probably won't go to see and something you probably would not give a fair shake to even if you did go to see it?Yes the cast from the Alec Guiness version is impressive filled with the cream of the Brit acting pool from the day but you know what?....a cast with Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, John Hurt and Mark Strong is also the cream of the crop of the Brit acting pool today. So, whatever.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

Somone's Watching Me - a fun little Made for TV movie from 1978. Sure, it is little more than a riff on Rear Window concept, but John Carpenter manages to create a tense atmosphere in the film, with a cast that lends itself to a fun game called "guess which 1970s TV series you saw me."

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - This has so many great things about it, but ultimately isn't ever executed properly. The title character could've become a great cult icon, come on he's a physicist/brain surgeon/rock star/samurai/probably other things too, but he doesn't actually do anything terribly impressive over the course of the movie outside of the opening creation and being defined with so many talents. The action is flat and the ending isn't anything interesting at all. There should've been so many big moments (even on a "so bad it's good" level). Just having John Lithgow as a villain with an accent is a major opportunity for this. This movie feels like it was destined to be another Army of Darkness or The Last Dragon for levels of silly awesomeness.

The Osterman Weekend - SPOILERS - The opening was a little dry but I was completely into this as the suspense built into the final act. But one question hit me once the twist was revealed - Why did Fassett bother to set this whole thing up with framing everybody as KGB agents, when all he had to do was kidnap Tanner's family? I don't get why he didn't just do that from the start instead. What was the point of the movie then? What was supposed to happen with the friends that was going to make Tanner go on the air to expose the General? Did I miss something that tied that all together? Anyways up until that point this movie was freaking incredible.

Polynikes wrote:Just read that a film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is looming. News to make my heart sink. Not only will it be compared with the brilliant (read the reviews) television adaptation thirty years ago (Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Terence Rigby, Michael Jayston and company), but reading the IMDB entry, most of the actors look horribly miscast for their roles. Gary Oldman has the unenviable task of trying to play George Smiley in the shadow of Alec Guinness. It is like asking Jim Carrey to play Columbo and expecting people not to think of Peter Falk.

So you are complaining about something that hasn't opened yet, something you probably won't go to see and something you probably would not give a fair shake to even if you did go to see it?Yes the cast from the Alec Guiness version is impressive filled with the cream of the Brit acting pool from the day but you know what?....a cast with Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, John Hurt and Mark Strong is also the cream of the crop of the Brit acting pool today. So, whatever.

Au contraire, mon brave, I give a fair viewing to anything I see, including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy if I get the chance to see it at the cinema or on DVD (too busy these days to watch much TV or go to the cinema). If they remade Casablanca, I would give it a chance, but I would anticipate it being but a poor shadow of the original. Just as I find it impossible to envisage a Casablanca without Humphrey Bogart, so I find it impossible to think of anyone other than Alec Guinness as George Smiley, a view which has been widely expressed in the British film media. But who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Attack of the Clones - Wow. I forgot how awful this was -- especially the bad dialogue and how ridiculous the plot twists are. I'm glad Natalie Portman cleansed her hands of this franchise as soon as she was able.

"Aliens conquering Earth would be fine with me, as long as they make me their queen."- Gillian Anderson

Attack the Block....remember what it was like the first time you saw movies such as The Warriors, Assault on Precinct 13, Shaun of the Dead, Reservoir Dogs, Kung Fu Hustle....any early film by a director that made you sit up & pay attention because you just knew this was the beginning of something special? A movie that hit every single pleasure center in your brain? A movie that made you want to turn around and watch it again right away? A movie that made you remember exactly why you love movies? Attack the Block is one of those movies. Go see it now.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

Wrecked - Kind of an interesting little thing starring Adrian Brody. Low budget, very quiet. Brody wakes up in the passenger seat of a wrecked car, badly injured and not really remembering much. He pieces together bits and pieces from a staticy radio broadcast and other dead passengers IDs before everything comes rushing back in the final scene. Weird little flick that never really gelled for me, and was also a tad predictable.

azul017 wrote:Attack of the Clones - Wow. I forgot how awful this was -- especially the bad dialogue and how ridiculous the plot twists are. I'm glad Natalie Portman cleansed her hands of this franchise as soon as she was able.

Funny enough I just rewatched this as well, and yeah, it is bad.

However, credit where credit is due, the Obi-Wan investigation storyline was interesting, and I makes me wish Lucas had focused on that as the center of his film, with Obi-Wan getting all Philip Marlow as he tries to piece together a weird mystery involving clone armies, politicians, and dead Jedi.

azul017 wrote:Attack of the Clones - Wow. I forgot how awful this was -- especially the bad dialogue and how ridiculous the plot twists are. I'm glad Natalie Portman cleansed her hands of this franchise as soon as she was able.

Funny enough I just rewatched this as well, and yeah, it is bad.

However, credit where credit is due, the Obi-Wan investigation storyline was interesting, and I makes me wish Lucas had focused on that as the center of his film, with Obi-Wan getting all Philip Marlow as he tries to piece together a weird mystery involving clone armies, politicians, and dead Jedi.

The final act just killed the flick for me - the big epic battle sequence was heartless, with all the main characters watching from the sidelines it was more like a video game cutscene. R2 with rocket jets, This party is over... Jango's less than flattering exit, dodgy CG, and of course, Yoda imitating a powerball.

HGervais wrote:remember what it was like the first time you saw movies such as The Warriors [...] Kung Fu Hustle....any early film by a director that made you sit up & pay attention because you just knew this was the beginning of something special?

HGervais wrote:remember what it was like the first time you saw movies such as The Warriors [...] Kung Fu Hustle....any early film by a director that made you sit up & pay attention because you just knew this was the beginning of something special?

Kung Fu Hustle doesn't exactly fit that criterion.

Nitpicker, pickin' nits.

Perhaps but to the best of my knowledge Kung Fu Hustle was only the second Chow movie to get any kind of wide release in this country, so from my point of view he was new and the movie was kind of a revelation. I was blown away and it instantly put his name on the radar of someone I had to look out for. All of which is beside the point, go see Attack the Block now!

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

Stake Land....interesting indie post-apocalyptic vampire movie. It's like Zombieland w/o the laughs and The Road w/o the pretension. The vampires might as well be zombie with fangs but it still works. The thing is bleak as hell and restrained in its gore. As a whole the movie is nothing you have not seen before but it's done rather well. Nice looking blu-ray from Dark Sky.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

HGervais wrote:Stake Land....interesting indie post-apocalyptic vampire movie. It's like Zombieland w/o the laughs and The Road w/o the pretension. The vampires might as well be zombie with fangs but it still works. The thing is bleak as hell and restrained in its gore. As a whole the movie is nothing you have not seen before but it's done rather well. Nice looking blu-ray from Dark Sky.

See, while admittedly based on the trailer, this seems far more pretentious than The Road to me. The Road took a serious approach to an apocalypse. It was thoughtful and committed to following through on its bleakness, and focused on the relationship between the man and the boy. It's sparse narration and dialogue weren't clipped from the action-horror cliche playbook. Stake Land looks like it recycles the already derivative Blade while dialing up the grim, like something I would have written when I was 14, thinking dark=deep. Is the trailer misleading, or do we just have different tolerances for this kind of thing?

Choice bits:"I've seen things you wouldn't believe.""I was like any other kid. I didn't believe in the bogeyman. Until the world woke up to a nightmare.""Welcome to Stake Land, kid.""How many have you killed?" "Not Enough."

I don't mention Zombieland or The Road off hand. This is a serious in tone mash up, low budget version of both those movies. I didn't find it overly pretentious where I did find [i]The Road[/b] to be kind of in some parts. As noted, there isn't anything in Stake Land that we have not seen before but it's done rather well and I appreciated its restraint in telling its story.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

azul017 wrote:Attack of the Clones - Wow. I forgot how awful this was -- especially the bad dialogue and how ridiculous the plot twists are. I'm glad Natalie Portman cleansed her hands of this franchise as soon as she was able.

Funny enough I just rewatched this as well, and yeah, it is bad.

However, credit where credit is due, the Obi-Wan investigation storyline was interesting, and I makes me wish Lucas had focused on that as the center of his film, with Obi-Wan getting all Philip Marlow as he tries to piece together a weird mystery involving clone armies, politicians, and dead Jedi.

The final act just killed the flick for me - the big epic battle sequence was heartless, with all the main characters watching from the sidelines it was more like a video game cutscene. R2 with rocket jets, This party is over... Jango's less than flattering exit, dodgy CG, and of course, Yoda imitating a powerball.

Worst flick of the entire series.

Wow Steve I think this is the first time we actually disagree on something! (maybe I am not the Aussie you, after all!!)

Don't worry darling, its just a hat, belonging to a small man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken!

Moonraker I am working my way through the Roger Moore Bond films. Good Lord...despite the fact this film is truly woeful, I can't help but like it. I'm sick. Sick, I tells ya. It has so much stuff I should hate...Jaws' ridiculous romance with the blonde pigtails, Q's final line: "I think he's attempting RE-ENTRY, sir!!", the lets-move-really-really-SLOWLY-to-simulate-zero-gravity thing, probably the least intimidating Bond villain of all time (ooh, he's got really well trained dobermans...jeez that's scary sh*t man!)...but still...I just can't help myself enjoying it

Don't worry darling, its just a hat, belonging to a small man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken!

Attrage wrote:Moonraker I am working my way through the Roger Moore Bond films. Good Lord...despite the fact this film is truly woeful, I can't help but like it. I'm sick. Sick, I tells ya. It has so much stuff I should hate...Jaws' ridiculous romance with the blonde pigtails, Q's final line: "I think he's attempting RE-ENTRY, sir!!", the lets-move-really-really-SLOWLY-to-simulate-zero-gravity thing, probably the least intimidating Bond villain of all time (ooh, he's got really well trained dobermans...jeez that's scary sh*t man!)...but still...I just can't help myself enjoying it

I'm with you on Moonraker. I can't say they're good movies, but I've always liked the cheesiness of Moore's movies. Just the fun tone, even the pigeon double-take has a "so bad it's good" quality for me. This is mainly because I first got into the series with Moore. If I started from the Connery days I'd probably be pissed.

I went through the Evil Dead trilogy again. I can't bring myself to really enjoy the first movie. I can only appreciate it for what it is with a new filmmaker and his unique techniques. You can see the beginnings of a great career with this one, but I can't help but wait for it to end so I can get to the second movie. I totally respect it though.

Evil Dead II - My favorite, just insane horror with Bruce Campbell at his best. Not many people can pull off a fight sequence against their own hand, but I've got to, well, hand it to Bruce. So much of the tone relies on his physical performance. And Sam Raimi's direction is amazing here. I honestly can't figure out how he even pulled off some of those shots. Those "monster cam" shots through the forest, it looks like the camera is mounted on a car, but it's going over logs and veering through trees, keeping pace with a sprinting actor. It can't be a crane, can't be tracking, can't be somebody sprinting with a camera over their shoulder. How the hell he Raimi do that???

Army of Darkness - This one's lost a lot of its luster for me probably because I saw it so so many times as a teenager. It's one of those movies that I know so well that I just go through the motions without actually enjoying it. But this is probably the most iconic entry of the series, and the one that most people would recognize Bruce Campbell for. I loved the horror/comedy tone of Evil Dead II, so I think it's a bit of a shame that was replaced by straight comedy with just a horror theme here.

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulu - I saw the trailer on one of my geek sites, that had my interest for a bit. This had some promise but fizzled out by the halfway point. The idea was fun - unleash an army of Lovecraftian sea monsters at a couple of indifferent "Office Space" types and see what sticks. The best gag is in the trailer, where a leech monster with suction cups for a head & hands attaches itself to the car window and they try to roll the window up and down to detach it. It just makes me wish somebody like Joss Wedon got a hold of the idea and threw some more money at it.

The Expendables - I enjoyed this much more than I thought I was going to. It's a solid fun action movie that I would have loved to have grown up with. My only complaint would be a lack of "hero moments" for each of the characters. And there was too much focus on the admittedly awesome Jason Statham, just because he's one of the few active modern action stars, whereas the movie was supposed to be about remembering the past. I was a little lost with Terry Crews, Stone Cold Steve Austin & Randy Couture mainly because they're not 80's action heroes; they're sports heroes that are off my radar. A little refinement would've made this a lot more satisfying. But if you take this as an action flick, there's a lot to like about it.

Rambo - An awkward entry to the series. Just like The Expendables, I felt this lacked enough "hero moments" for Rambo. He had 2 quick multi-kills (the pistol on the boat, and the bow & arrow scene), and the finale is him on a stationary cannon for a minute. I felt like I could've done that. When I see a Rambo flick I want to see him performing ridiculous tactics that show me that he is the greatest soldier alive. I felt a bit unsatisfied, so I was shocked to realize that this had the highest death count of the series!

And the message was definitely off. It's been established that Rambo is very worldly and has shrugged of American life, so it's strange that he was suddenly pick up the fight as soon and one naive white girl gets in trouble. Rambo's outlook on life has always been bleak, and that fits his initial attitude in this movie.

Hanna...what a huge surprise. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe The Professional meets Kick Ass when what I got was something very much its own. I saw a review refer to it as a kind of super hero origin movie and there is that but what I got involved in was the characters and the performances. The action sequences don't suck either. This one is going to get a repeat screening and soon.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

mavrach wrote:Rambo - An awkward entry to the series. Just like The Expendables, I felt this lacked enough "hero moments" for Rambo. He had 2 quick multi-kills (the pistol on the boat, and the bow & arrow scene), and the finale is him on a stationary cannon for a minute. I felt like I could've done that. When I see a Rambo flick I want to see him performing ridiculous tactics that show me that he is the greatest soldier alive. I felt a bit unsatisfied, so I was shocked to realize that this had the highest death count of the series!

And the message was definitely off. It's been established that Rambo is very worldly and has shrugged of American life, so it's strange that he was suddenly pick up the fight as soon and one naive white girl gets in trouble. Rambo's outlook on life has always been bleak, and that fits his initial attitude in this movie.

My big problem with Rambo has always been that it felt like Stallone wanted to make some kind of a message movie about the plight facing the people of Burma, kind of like the original First Blood was a bit of a treatise on the state of veterans in America post-Vietnam. The problem with that is that it's hard to take a film so ridiculously gratuitous seriously. At times it feels like two totally different movies sandwiched together.

Attrage wrote:Moonraker I am working my way through the Roger Moore Bond films. Good Lord...despite the fact this film is truly woeful, I can't help but like it. I'm sick. Sick, I tells ya. It has so much stuff I should hate...Jaws' ridiculous romance with the blonde pigtails, Q's final line: "I think he's attempting RE-ENTRY, sir!!", the lets-move-really-really-SLOWLY-to-simulate-zero-gravity thing, probably the least intimidating Bond villain of all time (ooh, he's got really well trained dobermans...jeez that's scary sh*t man!)...but still...I just can't help myself enjoying it

I'm with you on Moonraker. I can't say they're good movies, but I've always liked the cheesiness of Moore's movies. Just the fun tone, even the pigeon double-take has a "so bad it's good" quality for me. This is mainly because I first got into the series with Moore. If I started from the Connery days I'd probably be pissed.

I can't help but admire the chutzpah of a film which relies for its deus ex machina on [SPOILER] a conveniently placed big red button that shuts off the gravity to the space station, labelled with an equally convenient warning sign that reads in big letters "EMERGENCY STOP - Do not use unless station is secured". This could only have been bettered by having a button with "DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON" written on it.

I have to admit, I love me some Hugo Drax. Probably my favorite Bond villain of the Moore era, simply because A) Michael Lonsdale is awesome and B) he has some of the most enjoyable Bond villain lines in the series:

"Mr. Bond, you persist in defying my efforts to provide an amusing death for you."

"Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him."

"James Bond. You appear with the tedious inevitablity of an unloved season."

"You have arrived at a propitious moment, considered to be your country's one indisputable contribution to Western Civilization: afternoon tea."

I have to admit, I love me some Hugo Drax. Probably my favorite Bond villain of the Moore era, simply because A) Michael Lonsdale is awesome and B) he has some of the most enjoyable Bond villain lines in the series:

"Mr. Bond, you persist in defying my efforts to provide an amusing death for you."

"Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him."

"James Bond. You appear with the tedious inevitablity of an unloved season."

"You have arrived at a propitious moment, considered to be your country's one indisputable contribution to Western Civilization: afternoon tea."

C'mon, the man is kind of awesome.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Drax. I just think in the pantheon of Bond villains his intimidation factor is like minus 4. I don’t think any highly trained British secret agent would be too afraid of a guy who offers him cucumber sandwiches…

Don't worry darling, its just a hat, belonging to a small man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken!

Attrage wrote:Moonraker I am working my way through the Roger Moore Bond films. Good Lord...despite the fact this film is truly woeful, I can't help but like it. I'm sick. Sick, I tells ya. It has so much stuff I should hate...Jaws' ridiculous romance with the blonde pigtails, Q's final line: "I think he's attempting RE-ENTRY, sir!!", the lets-move-really-really-SLOWLY-to-simulate-zero-gravity thing, probably the least intimidating Bond villain of all time (ooh, he's got really well trained dobermans...jeez that's scary sh*t man!)...but still...I just can't help myself enjoying it

I'm with you on Moonraker. I can't say they're good movies, but I've always liked the cheesiness of Moore's movies. Just the fun tone, even the pigeon double-take has a "so bad it's good" quality for me. This is mainly because I first got into the series with Moore. If I started from the Connery days I'd probably be pissed.

I can't help but admire the chutzpah of a film which relies for its deus ex machina on [SPOILER] a conveniently placed big red button that shuts off the gravity to the space station, labelled with an equally convenient warning sign that reads in big letters "EMERGENCY STOP - Do not use unless station is secured". This could only have been bettered by having a button with "DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON" written on it.

mavrach wrote:Evil Dead II - My favorite, just insane horror with Bruce Campbell at his best. Not many people can pull off a fight sequence against their own hand, but I've got to, well, hand it to Bruce. So much of the tone relies on his physical performance. And Sam Raimi's direction is amazing here. I honestly can't figure out how he even pulled off some of those shots. Those "monster cam" shots through the forest, it looks like the camera is mounted on a car, but it's going over logs and veering through trees, keeping pace with a sprinting actor. It can't be a crane, can't be tracking, can't be somebody sprinting with a camera over their shoulder. How the hell he Raimi do that???

He strapped the camera to a board, and then he and someone else took the board on both sides and ran with it.

I am certainly not so strange as actually to like Moonraker; it's a stinker of a film, and one of the worst Bond movies. I merely admire the thick skin of its makers for defiantly including clunky plot devices and cringe-making "humour", as if they were deliberately trying to make the film "so bad, it's good". However, they did not even succeed even in that aim.

I saw Atonement again. A rare example of a film being better than the book on which it is based - but we have had a thread about that. I also saw Hart's War. Like Atonement a well made film, but based on a plot which does not convince. As a youngster when I watched Moonlighting and Die Hard, I never imagined Bruce Willis would be capable of taking on more demanding roles, but he has given some decent performances as more interesting characters over the years.

Contagion - I found this much more accessible than Soderbergh's Traffic, and the way he approaches the subject matter is by following the epidemic's evolution rather than the cast members' characters. That's not to say the characters are two-dimensional, as Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, and Jennifer Ehle's subplots are the most riveting and emotional in the film. What works the least is the bits with Marion Cotillard and Jude Law's characters -- Soderbergh almost doesn't know how to handle Law's character properly and Cotillard just gets lost in the mix by the time her character is last seen. Regardless, it's a chilling and uneasy movie that poses the what if question -- and the subject matter is very well-researched and handled in the film.

I feel this film could be longer and not feel bloated at all. And Soderbergh did a great job photographing this film -- it doesn't call attention to itself but at the same time, the simple lighting and framing is beautiful.

"Aliens conquering Earth would be fine with me, as long as they make me their queen."- Gillian Anderson

13 Assassins - What everybody's said so far about this movie is 100% correct, one of the absolute best movies made in a while. I've enjoyed the few Takashi Miike movies that I've seen, but he's always been so excessive. So did somebody sit him down and have a heart-to-heart to tell him to hold back a little? Still, his brutality in the right doses only helps this movie, with one of the most horrifying images I've ever seen early on, and it's used for the plot and to drive the story instead of as shock value.

Ironclad - My opinion of this was badly damaged just because I watched it the day after I saw 13 Assassins, reversing that order would've been a wiser choice since the general ideas are similar and 13 Assassins is so much better. But Ironclad is still a solid action flick, with Brian Cox stealing scenes, and Paul Giamatti going wayyyy against type as the King of England??? Not what I pictured for him, but he was actually pretty good. Good sustaining of a hopeless situation that I thought was lost a few times. I'll give this another viewing a ways down the line after I haven't seen one of the greatest action films ever made.

After watching my beloved Nittany Lions fall apart due to a superior 'Bama defense it was an evening with the classics, and The Great Ziegfeld and The Ziegfeld Follies were on the bill, both featuring the one and only William Powell. Yes, Powell's still best known for being Nick Charles, but he made Ziegfeld come to life with his outrageous schemes and stealing stars, all with an eye on the big picture (or big show, as it were). Luise Rainer won an Oscar as first wife Anna Held, and she's wonderful, but it's odd that second billed Myrna Loy doesn't show up until 2 hours and 14 minutes into a 3 hour movie. The real tragedy here is that some of the technical Oscars didn't exist yet because the recreations of Ziegfeld's massive stages and sets deserved some notice. The first of his lavish sets, the revolving staircase had to have been stupendous in the late teens, and recreated in the 30's they're still amazing. MGM pulled out all the stars for this one, but it seems Frank Morgan gets overlooked as Ziegfeld's foil/competitor/friend/enemy. No one did stuffy/befuddled old man better than Morgan and he does that, but gets to shine at the end when the fading Ziegfeld wants to put on one more show and even though he knows his friend won't make it, he encourages and supports him in it, but the look in his eyes tells the real story. Great work. The Ziegfeld Follies isn't about story, it's about spectacle, and jeez, do they deliver! MGM did have more musical talent than any other studio and they threw it all into one massive show. The plot (such as it is) is thin, looking down from heaven, Ziggy decides to put one more show on, and he certainly does, Garland, Williams, Astaire, Horne, Kelly, etc, etc, etc. all show up and they put together a show worthy of being one of Flo's shows. Spectacular, massive and BIG! Normally the full blown musical spectacular bores me, but this one's just fine.

"I ain't a boy, no I'm a man, and I believe in the Promised Land"-Coming to the USA on January 20, 2009!

HGervais wrote:Hanna...what a huge surprise. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe The Professional meets Kick Ass when what I got was something very much its own. I saw a review refer to it as a kind of super hero origin movie and there is that but what I got involved in was the characters and the performances. The action sequences don't suck either. This one is going to get a repeat screening and soon.

The action scenes surpassed Bourne which I always found overrated anyway. To boot it's filled with starkly beautiful often surreal imagery. Did I mention the music is very cool? The story is not terribly groundbreaking other than the age of the main character but that won't stop me from picking up this title soon.

A story doesn't have to be original to be entertaining, it just has to be well told. Yes certain plot elements are things we have seen before but the way they were presented was fresh, inventive and kind of surprising.

Future Man wrote:

HGervais wrote:Hanna...what a huge surprise. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe The Professional meets Kick Ass when what I got was something very much its own. I saw a review refer to it as a kind of super hero origin movie and there is that but what I got involved in was the characters and the performances. The action sequences don't suck either. This one is going to get a repeat screening and soon.

The action scenes surpassed Bourne which I always found overrated anyway. To boot it's filled with starkly beautiful often surreal imagery. Did I mention the music is very cool? The story is not terribly groundbreaking other than the age of the main character but that won't stop me from picking up this title soon.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

A Good Year – Ridley Scott does a rom-com. Say it ain’t so! Haha actually quite a good film. A world-class A-hole London stockbroker (Ridley Scott go-to-guy Russell Crowe) inherits a vineyard and estate from his late Uncle in France, and does the cliché “learn how to appreciate life” thing when reminded of his boyhood growing up there, and falling in love with a feisty waitress (Marion Cotillard). It’s the sort of film you can’t help but have a glass or two of a good red while watching. Yes it’s predictable and a wee bit cheesy in parts but has great cinematography, music and performances that more than make up for any shortcomings.

The Hurt Locker – second time viewing this film and even so, the incredibly tense set-pieces had me on the edge of my seat all over again. Everything about this film is rock-solid – the direction, the performances, the script. Sometimes in war films I find moments that are equal parts frightening and hilarious – moments that illustrate the madness of war quite well, I think. In this one, it’s a tiny moment – when poor Eldridge is stuck between Sgt James defusing a massive bomb in the trunk of a car, and Sgt Sandborn providing cover from the roof of a building. He’s ordered to go and see why Sgt James is not responding over the radio, and as he runs from cover he shouts desperately into his headset “Cover me please!” It’s the “please” that gets to me, and tone of his voice – I can only describe it as strangely resigned panic.

In the Name of the Father – the true story of the Guildford Four, a guy and three of his friends (and most of the guy’s family) who were wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London in the early 70’s and sentenced to life in prison, and their 15 year fight to clear their names and have their convictions overturned. Daniel Day Lewis and the late Pete Postelthwaite play father and son serving their sentences together. Amazing film about an amazing story. Day Lewis is truly among the best actors of his generation, or any generation for that matter. Highly recommend checking this out if you haven’t seen it.

Well with that serious weekend viewing out of the way, it’s onto my next Roger Moore 007 adventure, For Your Eyes Only. Watch this space

Don't worry darling, its just a hat, belonging to a small man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken!

X-Men: First Class for the 2nd time....what a miracle this movie is. First off that it was made, that it turned out, you know, to be really good. I hope Mathew Vaughan finally gets his crack at the 007 franchise but I would like to see a X-Men movie set in the 70s from him first. Fassbender absolutely rules.

"The most dementing of all modern sins: the inability to distinquish excellence from success."-David Hare

A Good Year – Ridley Scott does a rom-com. Say it ain’t so! Haha actually quite a good film. A world-class A-hole London stockbroker (Ridley Scott go-to-guy Russell Crowe) inherits a vineyard and estate from his late Uncle in France, and does the cliché “learn how to appreciate life” thing when reminded of his boyhood growing up there, and falling in love with a feisty waitress (Marion Cotillard). It’s the sort of film you can’t help but have a glass or two of a good red while watching. Yes it’s predictable and a wee bit cheesy in parts but has great cinematography, music and performances that more than make up for any shortcomings.

The Hurt Locker – second time viewing this film and even so, the incredibly tense set-pieces had me on the edge of my seat all over again. Everything about this film is rock-solid – the direction, the performances, the script. Sometimes in war films I find moments that are equal parts frightening and hilarious – moments that illustrate the madness of war quite well, I think. In this one, it’s a tiny moment – when poor Eldridge is stuck between Sgt James defusing a massive bomb in the trunk of a car, and Sgt Sandborn providing cover from the roof of a building. He’s ordered to go and see why Sgt James is not responding over the radio, and as he runs from cover he shouts desperately into his headset “Cover me please!” It’s the “please” that gets to me, and tone of his voice – I can only describe it as strangely resigned panic.

In the Name of the Father – the true story of the Guildford Four, a guy and three of his friends (and most of the guy’s family) who were wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London in the early 70’s and sentenced to life in prison, and their 15 year fight to clear their names and have their convictions overturned. Daniel Day Lewis and the late Pete Postelthwaite play father and son serving their sentences together. Amazing film about an amazing story. Day Lewis is truly among the best actors of his generation, or any generation for that matter. Highly recommend checking this out if you haven’t seen it.

Well with that serious weekend viewing out of the way, it’s onto my next Roger Moore 007 adventure, For Your Eyes Only. Watch this space

Said it before, will say it again... you SURE you ain't me?

Also, For Your Eyes Only is my favorite pre-Craig Bond film... there, I said it, and I am not ashamed!

^^^ And to throw my $0.02 into the Bond discussion (which I've sat on the sidelines reading with amused interest) it is precisely because Bond went so far (yet so entertainigly) into camp territory with "Moonraker" that we got "For Your Eyes Only" as the corrective-get-the-franchise-back-on-track-after-the-goof-off movie that the5thghostbuster talked about in his blog. So, if you really like "FYEO" (even with the freaking hockey net alarm thingie when Bond knocks baddies into with a zamboni...sigh), get on your knees and thank "Moonraker's" existence. It's directly responsible for giving Moore one last chance to act and be the bad-ass Bond that Connery and Dalton were in their sleep.

The People Vs. George Lucas - Had to turn it off a little over halfway through. Same old ranting and raving accompanied by a healthy dose of sensationalist drivel. Every now and again you have an intelligent figure chime in on the whole Star Wars controversy either pro or con, but for the most part, a bunch of angry nerds reiterating every poorly worded internet argument in existence.

A Good Year – Ridley Scott does a rom-com. Say it ain’t so! Haha actually quite a good film. A world-class A-hole London stockbroker (Ridley Scott go-to-guy Russell Crowe) inherits a vineyard and estate from his late Uncle in France, and does the cliché “learn how to appreciate life” thing when reminded of his boyhood growing up there, and falling in love with a feisty waitress (Marion Cotillard). It’s the sort of film you can’t help but have a glass or two of a good red while watching. Yes it’s predictable and a wee bit cheesy in parts but has great cinematography, music and performances that more than make up for any shortcomings.

The Hurt Locker – second time viewing this film and even so, the incredibly tense set-pieces had me on the edge of my seat all over again. Everything about this film is rock-solid – the direction, the performances, the script. Sometimes in war films I find moments that are equal parts frightening and hilarious – moments that illustrate the madness of war quite well, I think. In this one, it’s a tiny moment – when poor Eldridge is stuck between Sgt James defusing a massive bomb in the trunk of a car, and Sgt Sandborn providing cover from the roof of a building. He’s ordered to go and see why Sgt James is not responding over the radio, and as he runs from cover he shouts desperately into his headset “Cover me please!” It’s the “please” that gets to me, and tone of his voice – I can only describe it as strangely resigned panic.

In the Name of the Father – the true story of the Guildford Four, a guy and three of his friends (and most of the guy’s family) who were wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London in the early 70’s and sentenced to life in prison, and their 15 year fight to clear their names and have their convictions overturned. Daniel Day Lewis and the late Pete Postelthwaite play father and son serving their sentences together. Amazing film about an amazing story. Day Lewis is truly among the best actors of his generation, or any generation for that matter. Highly recommend checking this out if you haven’t seen it.

Well with that serious weekend viewing out of the way, it’s onto my next Roger Moore 007 adventure, For Your Eyes Only. Watch this space

Said it before, will say it again... you SURE you ain't me?

Also, For Your Eyes Only is my favorite pre-Craig Bond film... there, I said it, and I am not ashamed!

Hmmm dunno Steve. I tend to kind of black out sometimes and wake up in strange places. Plus we never seem to post on these boards at the same time. *insert Twilight Zone theme here*

Don't worry darling, its just a hat, belonging to a small man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken!

For Your Eyes Only – Now this is more like it! A pre-credits sequence that isn’t horrendously comedic, a cunning villain, classy babes, stunning locales and incredibly inventive stuntwork….. plus Jaws and his bespectacled love interest are nowhere in sight. For Your Eyes Only both literally and figuratively brought the Bond franchise back down to Earth. This and The Spy Who Loved Me are probably my two favourite Roger Moore 007 flicks. Although I think The Spy Who Loved Me’s incredible one-take-ski-slope-base-jump is probably my all time favourite of any Bond film, the pre-credits sequence in For Your Eyes Only is nothing to sneer at, featuring some very skilful helicopter piloting.

And…speaking of classy babes, Bond babes rarely come more classy than Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock. I think she, and she alone, is the reason that I am unashamedly and utterly transfixed by women with long brown hair. Damn. I say again: DAMN.

Moving on. For Your Eyes Only was the first Bond film to be made and released in the 80’s, and the first to be directed by former editor and second unit director John Glen, who would later helm the Timothy Dalton incarnations. Glen brings a slightly harder edge to the proceedings, an edge he would perfect later with Dalton but which Moore plays well. For Your Eyes Only also dishes up the revenge angle that Glen would later use to great effect in Licence to Kill, with Melina ditching her handbag, taking up a crossbow and setting out to avenge the deaths of her parents.

All in all a welcome change of pace (or return to form perhaps?) for Bond. Next on the agenda: probably the worst-titled Bond movie of all time: Octopussy.

Don't worry darling, its just a hat, belonging to a small man of limited means who lost a fight with a chicken!

Rocky - This was actually only my second time seeing this one. Can I be a contrarian a-hole and throw a criticism at this one? The entire tone of the movie and its characters feel like it should've been rated R, but now we know it as such a beloved classic franchise. Taking the original as its own movie, you can tell that the swearing was squeezed out in lieu of a PG rating. So what if Rocky breaks the bones of guys who don't pay their loan shark, as long as he refers to sex as "foolin' around," then the movie can be a wholesome experience for the whole family right? And Paulie comes home drunk and trashes the house, but he says "freaking" repeatedly???

I am nitpicking, because everything else about Rocky is just about perfect. When I was younger, the one I watched the most was Rocky IV, III, and even V, so I know the franchise more for Rocky fighting a "villain of the year" instead of being the character-driven stories that the first two movies were.

Rubber - I saw the trailer on my 13 Assassins DVD, and it's about a possessed TIRE that kills people with psychic powers. Since that's an idea that's so impressively stupid that it would take a genius to think it up, I was immediately attracted to it and found it on Netflix streaming. I got a big surprise because this turned out to be completely pretentious. Attempted philosophising, having a subplot about the audience, really full of itself. I guess they were as impressed with their killer tire idea as I was. I was looking for a Hobo With A Shotgun-type laugh at a crazy idea.